A Life of Wonder

One of my best friends decided a few months ago he needed to cage fight. I tried to talk him out of it. In the end, he went through with it. I protested up to the day of the fight. That evening, I decided that I needed to support him regardless of whether I agreed with his decision.

The cage fight was held in the suburbs. Muscle cars, tattooed women with big earnings and men sporting tight shirts with slogans like “fight to kill,” filled the parking lot and lobby.

This type of fighting is called “cage fighting” for a reason. The fight takes place inside of a large black cage evoking primary imagery. After sitting through 5 fights, my friends finally stepped into the cage.

For years I’ve seen him grow as a martial artist through rigor and discipline. He successfully competed in many sparing events where points were awarded for his skills. Unlike a system of earning points, cage fighting rewards only last man standing.

Watching him fight, I quickly understood his primary motivation to enter the cage: to deprogram himself. The over emphasis on scoring had taught him bad habits making him feel less skillful.

While I do not endorse cage fighting as a method to deprogram oneself, I am fascinated with his ability to recognize, and then take action on, forces he felt were limiting him.